1. What Is twerking?

2. What is Ricin?

Ricin is a substance produced from the castor oil plant and is highly toxic. A former Silk Road vendor sent a letter laced with the poisonous substance to President Obama, though it was intercepted by Homeland Security.

3. What is DOMA?

The Defense of Marriage Act, also known as DOMA, was a piece of legislation that allowed states to refuse recognizing same-sex marriages and defined marriage as a union between a man and woman. Enacted in 1996, the legislation was struck down as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013.

4. What is Molly?

Molly is a slang term for MDMA, also known as ecstasy. This drugs produces empathogenic reactions, meaning a person feels emotional and social changes with a sense of intimacy. The term is mentioned in the popular Miley Cyrus song "We Can't Stop."

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5. What is gluten?

Gluten is a protein composite that comes from wheat and wheat products. It allows bread to be soft and hold its shape. There are people who are gluten intolerant, which means the ingestion of gluten damages their small intestine.

6. What is sequestration?

Sequestration is a system by which all government spending is cut until an agreement can be reached on the budget. All non-mandatory spending was cut by 8% during the 2013 budget sequester, and the government shut down for 16 days.

8. What is lupus?

Lupus is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks organs in the body, leading to tissue damage and inflammation. There are several variations of lupus, including one induced by medication.

9. What is Snapchat?

Snapchat is an app through which people can send messages to a controlled list of recipients. The message, whether it's a photo, video or drawing, is only saved for a few second before disappearing permanently. Teens have used the app to send nude photos, causing some to associate it with sexting.

Image: Bloomberg/Bloomberg/Getty Images

10. What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a decentralized form of currency, meaning the currency does not go through or is monitored by any bank or government. Bitcoins are earned by mining and can be transferred to other users digitally. The currency can be traded for real money or used to buy products on the web.

Image: Thomas Trutschel/Photothek/Getty Images

Thanks to the Internet, we no longer have to be too embarrassed to ask "obvious" questions. Instead, we type them into a search engine and hope no one is peering at our screen. We can find answers to the most basic inquiries with very little digging, whether it's the goings-on of the world, medical worries or whatever is trending on Twitter.

Google compiled a list using data on the most popular searches for 2013. Results ranged across current events, pop culture and general knowledge queries, giving us a look at what people were most curious about over the last year.

Whether you're still not entirely sure what the Affordable Care Act is, or you just want to figure out exactly what twerking entails, here are the top 10 Google searches for phrases starting with "What is."

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